


Going Places

by happinesssdeceit (crescenttwins)



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, Coffee, Drunkenness, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-11-07 01:04:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11048073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crescenttwins/pseuds/happinesssdeceit
Summary: Yuuri Katsuki, it reads. The photograph on the student ID doesn't represent the male well, from what Victor can remember. It's slightly awkward, artificially bleached from the flash and color correction. Still, Victor thinks, a slight smile tugging on his lips, it's cute enough.





	Going Places

**Author's Note:**

  * For [leopharry](https://archiveofourown.org/users/leopharry/gifts).



> A belated pinch hit for leopharry! I hope you enjoy this <3

There's something disconcerting about the way that light filters through the air, catching on the dust particles that are drifting through the space. It makes the dust cloud around the sleeping student's head look a bit like a halo.

Still, Victor reserved this study carrel weeks ago in preparation for finals, and he can't give it away so easily.

"Excuse me," he says, shaking the other male's shoulder carefully, "you need to wake up." 

It takes a moment for the student to shake off the last dregs of sleep, pulling his head up and wiping away drool before turning to Victor. His glasses are perched atop his head precariously, sleep crusted eyes still half open and a slightly grumpy look on his face. 

"I've reserved the study carrel at eight," Victor says, smile a bit sharp. He's already lost five minutes of work time to this sleeping student, and his essay on the fall of the Roman Empire is due in two days. 

The student blinks at him, slow, and then his eyes widen as he erupts into a flurry of motion: unplugging his laptop and collecting its charger, packing stray papers and pens haphazardly into a bag, startlingly quick and graceful despite his clear exhaustion.

"Sorry," the student says, nodding as he leaves the carrel. 

"Not at all," Victor says in response, pulling out his own laptop and paper notes. When he ducks his head to plug in his computer charger, he notices a pass case sitting on the floor. 

He pops his head out from under the table, but the other student is gone already. 

Sighing, Victor drops the pass case on the corner of the table; perhaps the student will come back for it. Otherwise he'll turn it in to the front desk when he's done writing. He slips his headphones on, booting up his word processor and an opera soundtrack.

....

Just after 2 AM, Victor saves his rough draft with a yawn, stretching out his back with a few disconcerting cracks. He shuts his computer down, gathering his things and tucking them into his bag. 

Five hours of sleep, he thinks, and then editing and he'll be done with the semester. He'll finally have time to choreograph his performance for the senior showcase, Victor thinks.

His fingers brush against something unexpected, and Victor looks down. The pass case is still there.

Victor brushes his hair out of his face as he considers the item.

It's been-- he glances at the clock-- a little over six hours, more than enough time for someone to notice. It is also too late for student services to be open, and Victor sighs. He flips open the wallet, glances at the student ID.

_Yuuri Katsuki_ , it reads. The photograph doesn't represent the male well, from what Victor can remember. It's slightly awkward, artificially bleached from the flash and color correction. Still, Victor thinks, a slight smile tugging on his lips, it's cute enough. 

The library front desk is run by a cheerful looking sophomore on his phone. He's someone Victor would expect on the morning shift, running off sunlight.

"I'm turning in a lost wallet," Victor says, "has anyone asked after one?"

The sophomore puts his phone down and Victor politely averts his eyes from the screen. A moment of digging through the drawers later, a form and pen are placed in front of him. "Name and contact information, as well as description and location of found item, please."

The form says **LIBRARY USE ONLY** at the top, but it's also 2 AM, so Victor fills out the form. 

"Thank you for turning it in." The sophomore grins, accepting the pass case and the completed form. "And have a safe trip home!"

Logically, that should be the end of it. So Victor nods, tucking his jacket a little more securely around him, and leaves the library.

....

Except he's sitting in one of the bars around campus a few days later, and Victor recognizes a familiar face, this time with less sleep deprivation and drool. 

He asks the bartender to send over a drink on a whim, doesn't expect the other male to come over to him, steps light despite his slight swaying.

"You," the male mumbles, trying to sit in the stool next to him but missing terribly. Victor grabs his elbow quickly, pulls him into a half seated, half leaning position against the bar. 

"Yuuri," Victor says, agreeable. He blinks a moment later, remembering he's not supposed to know the other's name.

The male squints at him, and it's probably a bad sign that Victor thinks he's adorable. "You're a nice person." He waves the half-full glass in his hand, nearly spilling liquor onto the floor.

"Am I," and then, "why?"

"You're nice." Yuuri repeats. He leans against Victor, smelling of sweet alcohol and sweat and smoke. "But."

"But," Victor prompts.

"I think I'm going to throw up," Yuuri says, very quietly.

"What." Victor says, and then pulls Yuuri up, supporting him with an arm at his back. "Okay, just-- take a deep breath, we'll get you to the toilets. Let me know if you start feeling worse."

They navigate through the bar relatively easily-- it's one of the quieter ones around campus where the alcohol is a bit more expensive and the security more discriminating, enough to discourage most of the younger students from crashing in.

He leads Yuuri to the bathroom, leaves him resting in front of the toilet as he turns the sink on and ignores the sound of retching. When the sound ceases, he waits until he hears the flush before retrieving him from his crouch over the toilet bowl.

"Wash your face," Victor says, "you'll feel a bit better."

"You're nice," Yuuri iterates again, and Victor laughs.

"I must be," he says, and directs Yuuri to the sink. He lets his eyes linger on Yuuri's form as he leans over the sink, purely to make sure he doesn't topple over as he rinses out his mouth and bangs. 

Yuuri slicks his hair back, and Victor swallows around his suddenly dry throat. He opens his mouth to say something, but the bathroom door opens and the-- the assistant librarian comes in, phone in hand and smile on face.

"Phichit," Yuuri slurs slightly. 

"Yuuri, you drunk," his friend laughs, moving easily into Yuuri's space to help him stand. "You should let your best friend know when you're heading off with a dashing stranger." 

"He was throwing up," Victor says, and Phichit looks at him more carefully.

"Oh ho," Phichit teases to Yuuri quietly, a grin in his voice, "not a stranger, then." When he sees Victor frown, Phichit clarifies, "You seem to be saving him often these days-- first his pass case, and now his dignity." 

He looks like he's going to say more, but Yuuri jabs him in the ribs.

Phichit dances out of the way smoothly, laughing. "If you were sober, you'd say it yourself!" He grins at Victor, "Hey, let my friend Yuuri take you out for coffee sometime?"

Victor laughs but recites his number dutifully.

....

Yuuri, awake and sober, is not that different than Yuuri sleep-deprived and Yuuri drunk. This fact is more endearing than Victor might have thought.

Yuuri fidgets with his coffee cup, fingers curling around the rapidly cooling drink. He hasn't taken a single sip, hasn't attempted to engage Victor in conversation beyond the original greetings.

"Yuuri," Victor says, leaning in. He caresses Yuuri's chin to tip his face up, watches a charming blush come to the other student's face. "Tell me about yourself. Where are you from? What do you study? Do you have a girlfriend?" He smiles, eyes half-lidded and focused on Yuuri's. Victor curls his hand around Yuuri's on the cup.

Yuuri squawks, pulling away fast enough that his chair tips and his coffee spills on the table.

"Eh," Victor says, feeling slightly offended, "Why are you running away?"

"N-no reason!" Yuuri's voice cracks. Despite his nervousness, however, he hasn't looked away.

Victor watches him for a moment before accepting the answer. "Then tell me about yourself," he says, "or we can talk about me first?"

Yuuri laughs nervously, finally breaking his gaze to mop up the spilled coffee on the table. 

"I'm Victor Nikiforov, I'm a senior studying Russian Literature and Dance, and," he says, "this is our third time meeting, Yuuri Katsuki."

"Fourth," Yuuri corrects absentmindedly as he cleans up the spill, and then freezes.

"Fourth," Victor tries, testing the word carefully in his mouth. 

"I--" Yuuri fumbles the stained napkin.

"No," Victor says, soft, "tell me about the meeting I seem to have forgotten." Had he been drunk? That was a rare occurrence, but a possibility why he wouldn't have remembered the other male.

Yuuri exhales, "It was at our junior showcase."

Victor startles, and he gets stuck on _junior showcase_ before his mind latches onto _our_ , and then he says, "You're a Dance major, then." And his eyes are already locking onto Yuuri's posture and musculature-- his specialization is something Western: ballroom or ballet, perhaps.

"I am," Yuuri confirms, "but I started a semester late."

"Are you a good dancer?" Victor asks. His mind is already spinning in new ways, plans sliding into place neatly-- but, before that, he needs to hear--

"Yes," Yuuri says, not a trace of arrogance in his voice. He brings his cup of coffee up, finally comfortable enough to drink.

Victor grins. "Be my partner for the senior showcase performance."

Yuuri chokes.


End file.
